Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix
Chapter 1317 - 1317: Surrounded

As he had expected, Rain was welcomed by a barrage of purple rays fired by the cloaked enemies… Rain sidestepped the barrage with relative ease and saw them hitting the ground, but they didn't cause any damage. Their effect wasn't to harm him, but perhaps to weaken him somehow.

"This feeling… sloth?" Rain thought.

Since that was the case, it was clear that those were debuffs that would decrease his fighting abilities. In any case, to add to the issue, the snake-like monsters threw their swords at Rain and then flew in a wide range before moving toward him…

Dodging dozens of them had been a hassle, but Rain pulled off until the giant double-headed giants jumped and swung down their clubs to smash him to a pulp.

"This isn't going to work," Rain said after he jumped to the side and another enemy was falling and ready to smash him.

As if that wasn't enough, some of the curved swords approached Rain from behind… at the same time, he saw the snake-like monsters with their hands pointed at the weapons… it was Telekinesis.

Rain suddenly felt his body getting many times heavier thanks to that… he assumed that the enemies would be using Telekinesis to control the weapons, but he was wrong.

Sparks spread through the air as the curved swords collided with Rain's back, creating a visual spectacle of metallic impact. Remarkably, Rain remained unfazed, not moving an inch, shielded by the ominous sword that efficiently repelled the attacks.

Despite the resilience of the ominous sword, Rain encountered significant difficulty in evading the relentless strikes of the double-headed giants, grappling with their sheer force and their numbers. The clash between Rain's defensive prowess and the giants' offensive onslaught created a tense battlefield scenario.

"With the much mana the enemies are using and considering their numbers… my only option is to overpower them," Rain thought. "They will probably regret forcing me to do this... if they actually are acting out of their own volition, which is very unlikely.."

Rain had another idea. He stopped moving around and then attacked and destroyed the clubs with mana swords. Thanks to their high levels, they fell apart rather easily, and the giants didn't hit anything.

In the moment the giants got confused while seeing their weapons breaking, Rain smashed their heads by summoning and throwing mana hammers on their faces.

The skill Mana Hammer received 5.000 experience points.

The skill Mana Hammer received 5.000 experience points.

The skill Mana Hammer received 5.000 experience points.

…

"The same amount of experience… is that a coincidence?" Rain thought.

The enemies kept coming at Rain, and he kept stealing their mana with Glutonous Aura and the power of his circlet. Once his mana was full, he summoned four doppelgangers, and they soon left the area while using Impulse.

When the snake monsters tried to look at them, their focus weakened, and Ran used that chance to bombard them with mana swords. The projectiles easily pierced them, killing them.

The skill Mana Sword received 5.000 experience points.

The skill Mana Sword received 5.000 experience points.

The skill Mana Sword received 5.000 experience points.

…

"This isn't a coincidence… this can only be a cap to the level of power of minions right now," Rain thought.

The enemies, having discerned the futility of approaching Rain directly, attempted to withdraw, only to fall victim to a cunning ambush orchestrated by Rain's doppelgangers. This maneuver caught the adversaries off guard, disrupting their attempts to reposition and creating a pincer-like situation.

As the foes struggled to navigate this unexpected turn of events, Rain seized the opportunity to intensify his magical onslaught.

The relentless barrage of mana swords and the coordinated efforts of Rain and his doppelgangers created a destructive offensive front, leaving the enemies with limited options for escape or retaliation. The enemies, now confronted with a multi-faceted threat, found themselves increasingly overwhelmed by the relentless onslaught… they began to be killed in droves.

"The lords aren't here… it seems that they received the message that exposing themselves won't be the best of moves right now," Rain thought. "Regardless, I don't have time for this."

Rain didn't have that much left either, so he decided to go all out. Maybe that was what the enemy was expecting, but Rain couldn't care less. After reequiping the wrath's path, Rain became a dark vortex and then flew toward the enemies and began to destroy them while the doppelgangers prevented their escape.

For a while, it looked like Rain had control over the battlefield… the enemies were unable to even scratch him. Escaping was also impossible… The difference in skills wasn't something that they could make up with numbers. However, something happened that changed the flow of the battle and made Rain lose his focus.

The very ground beneath Rain trembled, and powerful impacts reverberated from both sides and behind him. Even in his heightened state of rage, Rain was forced to raise his guard, instinctively preparing for another threat. The abrupt disturbance caught his attention, momentarily diverting it from the ongoing confrontation with the enemies before him.

As the tremors subsided, Rain's mind swiftly transitioned from the immediate threat to a realization that something had occurred in the other battlefields. The sudden and powerful impacts hinted at a disturbance that could potentially alter the dynamics of the entire battlefield. The need to reevaluate his strategic approach became obvious to Rain…

"Son of a bitch… they want me to lose my focus and want to break our formation," Rain thought.

One didn't have to be a genius to understand that Rain's main worries and goal was to keep his family and friends safe, so targeting them was the best option to disrupt his focus…

When he looked over his shoulders in order to see what was going on there, a barrage of purple beams was fired toward him. Some of them hit him, and soon he began to feel sick…